The development process ofBond 25has been more tumultuous than usual, but those familiar with theBondfranchise certainly know it’s been no stranger to drama over the decades. Initially for theSpectresequel, theBondproducers were looking at hiring a fresh-faced talent to direct, with filmmakers likeYann Demange(’71) andDavid Mackenzie(Hell or High Water) reportedly making the shortlist. But a last-minute pitch by Oscar-winningSlumdog MillionairedirectorDanny Boylespurred the producers to change direction and hire Boyle to take the helm ofBond 25, using an original story he hatched with writerJohn Hodge(Trainspotting).
Boyle and Hodge got to work as Boyle shot his musicalYesterday, but last August Boyle left the film abruptly over creative differences. The producers subsequently hiredCary Joji Fukunagato take over and the script is reportedly being overhauled byScott Z. Burns(Contagion), but now Boyle is speaking out about the experience for the first time.
Talking toEmpire, Boyle was characteristically diplomatic about the situation while still expressing regret that his version ofBond 25won’t see the light of day:
“What John [Hodge] and I were doing, I thought, was really good,” Boyle responded. “It wasn’t finished, but it could have been really good.” The filmmaker added that he ‘learned quite a lot about himself’ from the experience, and has no ill feeling towards Fukunaga or the project’s current iteration. “We were working very, very well, but they didn’t want to go down that route with us.”
Boyle declined to go into specifics for fear of ruining what Fukunaga is doing, and even went on to say that theTrue Detectivedirector sent Boyle a nice note when he was hired:
“So we decided to part company, and it would be unfair to say what it was because I don’t know what Cary [Joji Fukunaga] is going to do. I got a very nice message from him and I gave him my best wishes… It is just a great shame.”
I’m sure somehow, someway we’ll learn what Boyle had planned—rumor has it that Boyle wanted to kill Bond at the end of the film, asBond 25marks the final film onDaniel Craig’s contract. But those rumors are so far unfounded, so we’ll just have to wait and see what Fukunaga cooks up when the currently untitled sequel hits theaters on July 05, 2025.
